Artificial intelligence is driving significant advancements in sustainability across nations. In light of AI’s benefits, recent studies emphasize the need for nations to develop comprehensive AI strategies that prioritize achieving SDG-related objectives. However, AI development is a complex sociotechnical process, with interconnected components influencing a country’s capability in AI. Given AI’s rising strategic significance for nations, we examine how dimensions of a nation’s AI capacity converge to facilitate sustainability advances. Using a cross-country configurational analysis comprising 59 nations, we identify six necessary conditions and three distinct configurations that influence a nation’s overall progress toward achieving the SDGs. The results underscore the relatively prominent role of access infrastructure and an operating environment underpinned by AI regulations in contributing to SDG progress. The comparatively lower significance of commercial ventures and AI talent highlights that sustainability efforts of ventures such as AI start-ups must balance social and environmental aspects with economic goals, while AI talent, in conjunction with other factors such as foundational platforms, can help drive innovative AI projects to advance SDG goals. A supplementary analysis helps discern how economic development and urbanization interact with other dimensions of a nation’s AI capacity to advance sustainability endeavors. The study renews focus on sustainability in IS research and contributes to the scholarly discourse on Responsible AI and Green IS. The results also nudge AI practitioners and policymakers to prioritize their efforts in advancing progress toward SDGs, specifically exploring AI’s potential to enhance and expedite these efforts.

人工智能正在推动各国在可持续发展方面取得重大进步。鉴于人工智能的好处，最近的研究强调，各国需要制定全面的人工智能战略，优先考虑实现与可持续发展目标相关的目标。然而，人工智能发展是一个复杂的社会技术过程，相互关联的组成部分会影响一个国家的人工智能能力。鉴于 AI 对国家的战略意义不断上升，我们研究了一国 AI 能力的各个维度如何融合以促进可持续发展的进步。使用由 59 个国家组成的跨国配置分析，我们确定了影响一个国家实现可持续发展目标的整体进展的六个必要条件和三种不同的配置。结果强调了接入基础设施和人工智能法规支持的运营环境在促进可持续发展目标进展方面的作用相对突出。商业企业和 AI 人才的重要性相对较低，这凸显出 AI 初创企业等企业的可持续发展工作必须平衡社会和环境因素与经济目标，而 AI 人才与基础平台等其他因素相结合，可以帮助推动创新的 AI 项目以推进可持续发展目标。补充分析有助于辨别经济发展和城市化如何与国家人工智能能力的其他方面相互作用，以推进可持续发展工作。该研究重新关注 IS 研究的可持续性，并为关于负责任的 AI 和绿色 IS 的学术讨论做出了贡献。研究结果还促使 AI 从业者和政策制定者优先考虑推动实现 SDG 的工作，特别是探索 AI 在增强和加快这些努力方面的潜力。